The Gulf: Chaos At The Border

They come by shiny air-conditioned sedan, by bus and truck and on foot. Some are sick, many hungry or thirsty. All are desperate. They are among the 2 million Arabs and Asians driven into Jordan by the threat of war. More than 210,000 refugees have arrived in Jordan during the past three weeks, but only 67,000 have been able to leave the country.

The refugees are a problem for Jordan's King Hussein, whose country lacks the resources to cope with the human tide. Last week Jordan announced that it was temporarily closing its border with Iraq because of "concern for the...